William J. Purman

William J. Purman

William James Purman (April 11, 1840 – August 14, 1928) was a Republican US Representative from Florida.

Born in Millheim, Centre County, Pennsylvania; attended the common schools and completed his studies at Aaronsburg Academy, Centre County, Pa.; taught school; studied law at Lock Haven, Pennsylvania; during the American Civil War entered the Union Army as a private and served on special duty at the War Department until transferred to Florida in 1865; was admitted to the bar in 1868 and commenced practice in Tallahassee, Florida; member of the State constitutional convention in 1868; barely escaped an assassin's bullet in 1869 which left his brother-in-law, a former surgeon in the Confederate army, dead; served in the Florida State Senate 1869-1872; appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the State senate as secretary of state in 1869, but declined; chairman of the Florida Commission in 1869 for entering into negotiations for transfer of West Florida to the State of Alabama, which transfer was not ratified by Alabama; assessor of United States internal revenue for the district of Florida 1870–1872; chairman of the Republican State committee 1870–1872; member of the Republican National Committee 1876–1880; elected as a Republican to the Forty-third United States Congress and served from March 4, 1873, to January 25, 1875, when he resigned; member of the Florida House of Representatives for one session and resigned when elected to Congress; elected to the Forty-fourth United States Congress (March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1877); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1876 to the Forty-fifth United States Congress; returned in 1878 to Millheim, Pa., and engaged in agricultural pursuits; moved to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1883; moved to Washington, D.C., where he lived in retirement until his death; the remains were cremated and the ashes deposited in a vault at Glenwood Cemetery.

References

• William J. Purman at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

External links

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Silas L. Niblack	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 1st congressional district 1873–1877	Succeeded by Horatio Bisbee, Jr.